The Green Light Extinguished
by QueenofConstellations
Summary: Picks up immediately after "The Green Light." Draco and Hermione take things to her house. Another one-shot of fluffiness.


_A/N: Okay, this is another one-shot, set just after "The Green Light" finishes. Turns out I really like the idea of Dramione romance. Who knew?_

_Disclaimer: This is not mine._

**The Green Light Extinguished**

Draco and Hermione stumbled into her flat, lips connected, tripping over each other. With a flick of her wand, Hermione slammed the door shut behind them and tossed her wand to the couch, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck. He groaned into her mouth, pulling her closer by the waist and trying to guide her to the couch without actually seeing it. After tripping over the coffee table, the pair separated long enough to settle onto the couch.

Hermione let Draco loom over her, letting the thrill of finally feeling wanted consume her like wildfire. Shifting slightly, she wrapped one of her legs around Draco's waist and pulled his lower half closer to her. He closed his eyes as though enduring sweet agony and lowered his forehead to hers.

"How much did you drink?" he whispered, his breath giving Hermione goosebumps.

Hermione chuckled. "Enough, but not too much." She eyeballed him as though trying to figure him out. "I'm not drunk, Draco."

She wriggled beneath him and he quickly pressed his hands into her shoulders, trying to separate them. "I just want to make sure you want this and you're not just looking for comfort."

"I don't need comfort," she said quietly. "I need you."

With a growl low in his throat, Draco kissed her deeply again, sneaking his hand around the back of her head to cradle it gently. The intimate gesture freed butterflies in her stomach that fluttered incessantly. She unlocked her arms from around Draco's neck and started working through the buttons on his shirt.

The feeling of her fingers felt like liquid fire sneaking over Draco's skin; his muscles tightened when she touched them, as though he were afraid she wouldn't like what she'd find. He was watching her closely, his eyes more vulnerable and intense than she had ever seen.

"You really love me," she exhaled breathlessly. Draco furrowed his brows and sat back on his haunches, his shirt halfway unbuttoned.

"You didn't believe me?" he asked.

A gentle smile graced her face. "It's one thing to believe and another to see it firsthand. No one's ever looked at me like that before."

He cocked his head. "Looked at you like what?"

She reached forward and traced his bare chest lightly with her fingers. "Like I'm the greatest thing you've ever seen."

He laughed, his voice strained. "Why, Miss Granger, you sound a little full of yourself."

"Must be you rubbing off on me," she retorted, scraping her nails against his skin in punishment. He hissed and loomed over her again.

"I haven't rubbed on you nearly enough yet," he growled, nibbling her neck.

She squealed, eliciting quiet laughs from Draco, which tickled her more. Eventually her giggles evolved into breathy exhalations of pleasure, and Draco was kissing her neck and laughing was the last thing on their minds.

With a loud 'woosh!' the fireplace roared to life. Hermione gasped, pushing Draco off of her to better see the person intruding. Draco groaned as the tall figure unfolded himself from the fireplace.

"Ron?" Hermione asked, too confused to try to fix her hair or straighten her clothes. Draco took her hand and squeezed it. She gave him a smile before she stood. "What are you doing here?"

Ron narrowed his eyes at the sight of Draco with his shirt half open. "I came here to apologize, but you obviously don't need an apology from me when you have a shirtless Malfoy to console you."

Hermione blushed brilliantly, but her face didn't betray any embarrassment. "I'm not going to apologize for Draco," she said firmly.

Ron nodded as if he didn't expect anything else. "Sure. So after all of the tears, all of the fighting, and your begging, you're going to crawl into bed with Malfoy? I can see how much our relationship meant to you."

Hermione's jaw dropped, but she recovered quickly and snapped it shut. "Our relationship meant the world to me," she said quietly. Draco felt hurt fill his body and he shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

"Then forgive me," Ron said, holding his arms open, waiting for Hermione to walk into his embrace.

"I should go," Draco stood, buttoning his shirt.

Hermione turned to him sharply. "Sit. Down," she commanded. The fierceness in her gaze cowed Draco, and he sunk back into the couch. She turned back to Ron.

"I treasured everything about our relationship," she continued. "You were a lot of my firsts, and I thought that we were going to get married and have children. I pictured our lives, every year of them, together, and even loving each other after death."

Every word was a sharp ache in Draco's chest.

"Which is why I suppressed everything that I felt for Draco. I told myself that I was just attracted to him physically, or that I loved him as a friend, the way I love Harry. I refused to even entertain the idea that I had feelings for Draco because I thought it was disrespecting our relationship. I respected you more than that."

Draco looked up at her; her eyes flicked toward him momentarily before fixing on Ron again. He looked like he didn't know how to respond. To be fair, Draco had no words either.

"But you didn't respect me, did you?" she asked.

The silence that followed her statement was the most complete he had ever heard.

"I don't understand," Ron said.

"Is it Lavender?" Hermione asked. "Or is it some Quidditch groupie? I mean, it isn't like it mattered, either way, it wouldn't change anything."

"Wait…what?"

"She knows that you were cheating on her," Draco supplied helpfully from the couch.

"No one asked you, Mal-ferret," Ron snarled, starting toward him.

"Hey, he's not accusing you," Hermione said, getting his attention once more. "I am. So before you get all sanctimonious, I want you to take a look at what you did to destroy this relationship. I might not be perfect, but at least I respected you."

Ron looked stunned, but seemed unable to find the strength or dignity to bow out of the conversation. "So you think that makes it okay to just shack up with Malfoy?" he snapped.

Hermione blinked. "Ignoring the fact that you basically just admitted to infidelity, yes, I think it does. Draco and I are both consenting adults, and he loves me."

Ron laughed, the sound echoing in the living room like a wail. "Right, I'm sure that's what he told you," he said. "He's been trying to get in your pants for years, and now he found his way in." He turned back to the fireplace.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe you're right," she said. "But I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about getting into his pants for three years."

Draco almost laughed at the sheer rage clouding Ron's features before Hermione returned to the couch, pressing her lips to his neck. Immediately forgetting about Ron, Draco closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, giving her better access to the tender flesh of his throat. She nipped at it, reveling in the sounds she could draw from him.

Then, suddenly, she paused, her nose tickling his shoulder. "You can go now, Ron," she said, her voice harsh.

The sound of the Floo was never more welcoming than it was right then. Draco growled and pounced on Hermione once more, this time pushing her shirt up her torso, revealing her abdomen. He groaned at the sight of her creamy skin, and peppered soft kisses on the immaculate skin as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

"You're awfully clothed," he said against her skin.

She laughed again, pushing his shirt down his shoulders. "So are you," she said.

"We should fix that," he chuckled. Hermione pushed him away and tugged her shirt over her head, tossing it at the armchair. Her hair settled around her shoulders and Draco stared at her, caught in between taking his shirt off. She smirked at him and tilted her head. He smiled, and for a while they got caught up in just looking at each other.

"You're beautiful," he said.

She stuck out her tongue, the compliment making her insides twist pleasurably. "You'd be more beautiful if you'd finish taking that shirt off," she joked.

He smirked at her and obliged, watching the expression on her face change as he did so. Her hands itched to touch him, and they reached for each other at the same time. This time, Draco's kisses were directed to her chest. He peppered soft kisses there, inhaling the sweet scent of her skin.

"You still have pants on," she whined.

His laugh rumbled through his chest as it pressed into her, and Hermione quickly surrendered to the lights that exploded behind her vision and the soft insistence of Draco's mouth.

When Hermione woke up the next morning, she reached blindly for the warm body next to her and found nothing but warm sheets. With a groan, she pushed herself up on her elbows and looked around the room. She didn't remember getting to the bedroom; Draco must have carried her there. The small alarm clock perched on her bedside table read 9:24 a.m.

A feminine laugh caught her attention. Furrowing her eyebrows, she quickly wrapped a robe around her nakedness and padded into the kitchen, nudging Crookshanks away from her feet so she wouldn't trip over him.

She found Draco in the kitchen, clutching a ceramic mug of coffee. Sitting at her table was Ginny, holding her own cup. When he caught sight of her, his face split into another huge smile, one that made her knees weak, and he nodded at the counter. There was another cup of steaming coffee waiting for her. She took a sip quickly, hoping the caffeine would prepare her for another uncomfortable encounter about Draco. But before Ginny could scold her, Draco spoke.

"How's your head?" he asked, cocking his head. "No hangover?"

Hermione grinned. "My head's fine."

Ginny gagged. "I don't even want to know what that euphemism is referring to," she said. Draco indulged her with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Wait, you're not upset?" Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny gave her a smirk reminiscent of Draco's. "For something I saw coming years ago, no way."

Draco smiled, but tried to hide it behind his coffee cup. Hermione looked from Draco to Ginny to back again, as though trying to connect a dot. "Saw this coming?" she asked. "How?"

Ginny paused before replying. "Well, I've known that Draco was in love with you since you two started hanging out."

Hermione's eyebrows jumped up.

"You forget that Ginny and I are friends," Draco explained. "She's my closest friend beside you, and I couldn't exactly talk to you about it."

"And you didn't try to dissuade him?" Hermione asked Ginny.

She laughed. "Of course not. I knew that your relationship with Ron was on the rocks, at least at the time, so I told him that as long as he enjoyed your company, there was no reason to stop hanging out with you."

"So you knew that Ron was going to cheat on me?" Hermione asked.

Ginny's smile fell off her face entirely. "He did what now?"

Draco intervened before Hermione could speak. "It doesn't matter now, Ginny. Remember? Happy vibes here? Let's not bring violence into this."

Ginny's face was still dark. "I'm going to bring violence to my dear brother later."

Hermione placed a hand on her shoulder. "It really isn't a big deal."

"I'm sorry I never told you," Ginny apologized.

Hermione shrugged with a smile. Ginny sighed in relief.

Hermione took a sip of her coffee as Draco watched her closely. "You're not mad that she never told you?" he asked, incredulous. "I'm surprised you aren't going on a rampage right now."

"What can I say, you sapped all of my energy," she quipped.

"Come on!" Ginny said, clapping her hands over her ears.

Draco watched the exchange with a soft smile on his face, as though enjoying a look into something he thought he'd never see. He was so sure that his love for Hermione would go unrequited, and she would marry Ron. Sure, he would be around to meet their kids and eat dinner with them every now and then, but they would never have something more than a friendship. Now, he was so sure that he was going to spend the rest of his life with the crazy haired girl who was teasing her other best friend that he wanted to burst.

Draco Malfoy was not a lucky man; at least, he hadn't been lucky his whole life. But he couldn't help but think that all those years of bad luck were accumulating into this one surge of good luck and he couldn't say that he begrudged his bad luck. He would have endured years of more bad luck if it meant he could spend his life with Hermione Granger.


End file.
